Roller drive disengaging means for power-driven wringers



ED. LLHEHHN W; V

' ATTORNEY.

23, 1940. R. D. o'cALLAGHAN ROLLER DRIVE DISENGAGING MEANS FOR POWER DRIVEN WRINGERS Filed Marczh` '7, 1938 Patented pr. 23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROLLER DRIVE DISENGAGING MEANS FOR POWER-DRIVEN WRINGERS 4 Claims.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine wringers which positively disengages the power roller of the wringer from the driving vmeans when the wringer is opened by the release of the ordinary safety catch.

A further object of this invention is to provide a disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine wringers particularly adapted to roller type wringers of the end opening type which will cause the driven roller to be disengaged from the driving means to provide greater safety to the operator of the wringer.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a disengaging .means for roller actuated washing machine wringers that is used directly adjacent the end of the driven roller, making the complete wringer and safety attachments a selfcontained unit having allvof its .actuating and operating parts ahead of the drive shaft or power transmission means to the wringer roll.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine wringers that is positive in its action. l l

A still furth'erobjec't of this invention is to provide a disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine wringers having in conjunction therewith, a frictional wringer drain operating mechanism.

A still further -object of this invention is to provide a disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine wringers that is economical in manufacture, durable and eilcient in use.

. These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.v

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the. objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a side cross-sectional view of a portion of a wringer Lwith my device installed thereon ready for use.

Fig. 2 is an end sectional view of the shaft and disengaging rack taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig..3 is a cross-sectional view of my device taken on the line 3-3of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of the engaging fork used in my disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine lwringers.

Heretofore,y roller actuated washing machine vvvringers have had several serious drawbacks'.

The chief vobjections to wringers of ,this type havel been the difficulty of providing adequate safety devices to prevent injury to the operator of the roller. The end operated or vertically swung, type of wringer has been desired by virtue of the fact that it could easily be equipped with safety 5 catches for disengaging one roller from the other and preventing injury to the operator through crushing of a hand or arm between the rollers. This has been accomplished satisfactorily, but due to the fact that the lower roller continues to rotate, additional hazards are incurred, as the hand or arm of the operator may become entangled in the clothing being passed through the wringer and the movement of the roll tends to pull the arm into the mechanism. No satisfactory method has heretofore been devised for positively disengaging the lower roller from the driving mechanism when the upper roll has been disengaged through use of safety catches and the like from the lower roller.

I have overcome such disadvantages by providing a disengaging means for roller actuated washing machine Wringers that positively disengages the lower roll of the wringer from the driving means when the upper roll is disengaged by the safety release ordinarily provided on the wring- Referring to the drawing, I have used the numeral I0 to designate the lower frame of an ordinary wringer. The numeral Il designates y the upper roll of an ordinary wringer, ordinarily pivoted at one end to the frame I0 and yieldingly held adjacent the frame I in the usual manner. The numeral I2 designates the upper roll of the wringer rotatably mounted in the upper frame I I y as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. I have used the numeral I3 to designate a drive shaft rotatably rnountedin the frame I0 which ordinarily has one end in operative engagement with a prime mover, transmission or the like. The shaft I3 is embraced by the ordinary bearing cap I4, which in turn has an enlarged chamber I5 therein as shown. I have used the numeral I6 to designate a hexagonal portion integrally formed on the shaft I3 within the4 chamber I5 in prolon- 45 gation of the shaft I3, which serves as a drivin spindle for my device at times.

The numeral I'I designates a pin shaft integrally formed on the inner end of the hexagonal portion I6. I have used the numeral I8 to desig- 50 nate the lower roller of the Wringer rotatably mounted in the frame I 0 and having a hollow shaft I9 at one of its ends. The portion of the shaft I9 extending beyond the end of the wringer has cut therein, a hexagonal opening into which V5.5

operatively embraces my safety means which I will now describe.

The clutch portion of my device is formed from a single piece of material having a bore through its longitudinal center line, capable of slidably engaging the pin Il. The numeral 2B designates a hexagonal portion at the inner end of my device for slidably engaging the hexagonal opening in the shaft I5 for preventing independent rotation between the shaft and my device relative to each other. The numeral 2| designates a groove cut in the sleeve of my device and about its peripheral edge, as shown in Fig. l.

The outer end of this sleeve has cut therein,-

parallel with its longitudinal center, a hexagonal opening 22, capable of receiving the hexagonal member I6, when the sleeve is in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. I have used the numeral 23 to designate a yoke member having one end pivotally secured to the frame Iii' below the longitudinal center of the lower roller driving mechanism and having a circular lug 24 formed on its upper end. I have used the numerals 25 and 26 to designate lugs rigidly secured to the inner sides of Vthe yoke 23 for engaging the slot or groove 2| of my operating mechanism as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The numeral 2l designates-a coil spring imposed between the yoke 23 and the inside wall `of the frame til for yieldingly holding or retaining the yoke in position. The numeral 28 designates an engaging fork having its upper end secured to the frame I l of the upper roller |12, and so designed that when the upper frame II is closed so that the rollers I 2 and I3 are adjacent each other, the fork 28 will engage the lug 2li, pulling the yoke to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and placing the hexagonal hollo-w portion 122 inoperative engagement with the hexagonal portion I3 for driving the roiler I8.

Ordinarily, there is a tiltable drain board below the lower roll of all roller type wringers, generally actua-tedlbyV a friction'portion bearing .directly on the rubber part of the roil. I have provided'a tiltable drain board Y2i? pivotally-mounted on the frame ID below and adjacent the roll i8 and having a crankarm 30 on one end thereof. The numerals 3| and 32 designate friction fingers frictionally'engaging yor embracing the outer peripheral edge of my clutch portion and retained in position by a clip spring v33 as Vshownin Fig. 3 of the drawing. The portions 3| and 32 have elongated ngers extending downwardly and at an angle thereto which I have designated by the numerals 34 and 35 respectively for contacting and actuating the crankarm 3Q at times. I have used the numeral 33 to designate my sleeve bearing in the shaft i3 in its entirety for aiding in the explanation of the practical operation of my de- Vice, which is as follows: When the wringer is in operation, the rolls I2 and I8 are adjacent each other as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the fork 28 is holding the sleeve 36 so that the hexagonal opening 22 embraces the hexagonal portion I6, engaging the sleeve 36 with the shaft I3. Power from the shaft I3 is transmitted to the sleeve 33 by virtue of the opening 22 being in engagement with the hexagonal portion I6. The hexagonal portion'ZU is in engagementwith the hexagonal opening in the shaft I9, thereby providing power for the rotation of the roll I3. Should something occur that makes it necessary to release a safety catch and'open the rollers relative to each other, the viork 28 will rcarry-the released by the fork 28, thereby pulling' the open# y ing 22 out of engagement with the hexagonal portion I6 and preventing power from being transmitted to the roller I8, thus preventing accidents from occurring, due to the rotation of this roller. When the housing or upper frame I I is again closed, the longer inside flngerof the fork 28 picks up the lug 24, moving the yoke 23 to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, bringing the opening 22 over and in engagement with the hexagonal portion I6 and again allowing the shaft I3 to directly power the roll I8 through the medium of the sleeve 36. The spring 28 is of sufficient tension to hold the yoke 23 in position to prevent accidental engagement of the sleeve 36 with the hexagonal portion It. The frictional portion of my device or drain tilting means frictionally .embraces the sleeve 3S with sulicient traction to pull the fingers 34 or 35 into engagement with the crankarm 30 for tilting the drain 29 to its proper attitude relative to the rotation of the roll I8.

.Thus it will be seen that I have provided a disengaging means for roller actuated Washing machine wringers that is positive in operation Some changes may be made in the construcn tion and arrangement of my improved disengaging means forrroller actuated .washing machine wringers without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or vuse of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1.. In combination with a washing machine wringer having a lower frame, a drive shaft rotatably mounted inthe lower frame, an upper frame hingedly secured at one of its ends to the lower frame and having a roller rotatably' mounted therein, a lower roller rotatably mounted in said lower frame, a hollow shaft portion on said lower roller extending beyond its end portion, a hexagonal opening in the end of said hollow shaft, a hollow sleeve portion having one of its endshexagonally' shaped and capable of sliding engagement with said hexagonal opening in said -hollow shaft, a hexagonal portion on the inner end of said drive shaft, a pin shaft on the inner end of said hexagonal portion capable of engagement with the vinside opening in said hollow sleeve, a hexagonal opening in the outer end of said sleeve capable of engagement'with said hexagonal portion of said shaft at times,v a slot cut about the peripheral vedge of said sleeve, a yoke element having its lower end pivotally secured to said frame, lugs on said yoke element capable of operative engagement with said groove in said sleeve, a circular lug formed on upper end of said yokefanda fork member'rig-A idly secured to saidvfupperv frame; said fork member being capable of-vengaging said circular vlug 1ug'24and; yoken 23 inward1y until the 'lug-1 244s of said#yoke-whensaid upper -frameA is. pivoted, 76'

causing said lugs on said yoke to actuate said sleeve causing said hexagonal opening in said sleeve to engage said hexagonal portion on said drive shaft. f

2. In a device of the class described, a lower frame portion, an upper frame portion hingedly secured at one of its ends to the lower frame portion, a lower roller rotatably mounted in said lower frame portion, an upper roller rotatably mounted in said upper frame portion, a drive shaft, a clutch means capable of operatively connecting said drive shaft to said lower roller, anda rigid member on said upper frame portion capable of operatively engaging said clutch means for operatively disengaging said drive shaft from said lower roller when said upper frame portion is moved upwardly and away from said lower frame portion..

3. In a device of the class described, upper and lower frame portions, a horizontally disposed roller rotatably mounted in each frame portion, a hinge connecting said frames together at one end, said hinge permitting said upper fram-e to swing into and out of abutting relation to said lower frame through a vertical arc in alignment with the axes of said rollers, a drive shaft, a clutch for connecting said drive shaft to said lower roller, means inwardly of said lower frame and adjacent said hinge for automatically disengaging said clutch when said upper frame and roller are swung upwardly on said hinge, and means automatically re-engaging said clutch when said upper roller and frame are swung downwardly to abut said lower frame and roller.

4. The structure of claim 3, said clutch disengaging means comprising a spring carried by said lower frame and operatively connected to said clutch to load the same towards a disengaging position.

I ROBERT D. OCAILAGHAN. 

